Burma: Liberalisation to conceal repression?

Burma, also known as Myanmar, held its first elections in 20 years in November 2010, and the new ‘civilian’ government took office in March 2011. However, as many international observers have reported, the elections were fraudulent and undemocratic. A quarter of the seats on Parliament are reserved for the military, and a military-backed party controls 80% of the rest. According to reports, the government continues to imprison political opponents,  use convicts as human shields for the military, violently repress ethnic minorities, silence critics through censorship of the press, and limit access to information through surveillance of the internet, among other claims. The result is absolute military rule wearing the mask of democracy; a mask that the government thinks it can continue to wear as long as it controls the press and the internet.

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Libyan Attacks on Freedom of Expression – the Root of the Unrest

“All my people love me. They would die to protect me,” said Libyan leader, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi earlier this month.  This, however, contrasts starkly with the reality of the situation in Libya, leading to the US ambassador to the UN to declare the leader “delusional.”  Nearly two weeks earlier, anti-government protests broke out in Libya following the resignation of former Egyptian leader, Muhammad Hosni Mubarak.  The government responded with military action, leaving more than 100 dead in the first four days of protests.  The UN security council responded by calling for an end to the violence.  This, however, was nearly three weeks ago, yet the crisis in Libya remains.

Why is Venezuela ranked in the 133rd position in the 2010 World Press Freedom Index?

 Of the 178 countries ranked in the 2010 World Press Freedom Index Venezuela was situated in 133rd place, plunging nine places compared to the 124th place it occupied in 2009. The reasons for this decline are numerous. The major issue is of the State’s monopoly of the audio-visual terrestrial broadcast network, which determines many of the obstacles faced by the media and the journalists, especially those who continue to critique against President Chávez’s Government.

The growing problem of impunity for attacks against journalists

2010 seems, so far, to be a particularly bloody year for journalists. In countries all around the world journalists have been attacked and killed by private citizens, without the States in question providing protection or conducting investigations and punishing those responsible.

In Europe, the European Court of Human Rights condemned Turkey for not preventing the death of Fırat Dink, an Armenian-Turkish reporter in 2007, despite that State being aware of the death threats against him. As yet, there have been no convictions in Mr. Dink’s murder. Meanwhile, Article XIX and International Media Support called on Belarus, Russia and the Ukraine to increase the protection of journalists and end the impunity of those who attack them. The deaths of journalists like Georgiy Gongadze in Ukraine in 2000; Anna Politkovskaya in 2006 and of Natalia Estemirova in 2009 both in Russia and the disappearance of Dmitry Zavadsky in Belarus in 2000 remain unsolved.